I Think it's Best if We Both Stay
by FearlessAndRed
Summary: The story of Jerome Clarke, Mara Jaffray and their future. But will it be their future together? Because life makes love look hard...
1. When You're a Little Too Late

_Disclaimer: I do not own House of Anubis or any Taylor Swift songs._

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_Chapter 1: When You're a Little Too Late_

"I'll do the washing up." Mara said as she got off her stool infront of the kitchen counter and began to pile the plates together.

"But you did it last time." Jerome said, sitting in his stool opposite her's. They were in the kitchen of the flat they lived in together. They had been boyfriend and girlfriend ever since Jerome had asked Mara out that day at high school, just after Jerome's dad had been let out of jail. Since then they had done their A Levels, been to university and now had jobs, Jerome was a photographer and Mara a journalist.

"It's your day off, go watch the TV or something." Mara waved her hand to shoo him away and then put the dirty dishes on one side of the sink. She turned on the tap and started filling the washing up bowl with water.

"Sometimes you're just too good." Jerome sighed, smiling.

Mara turned to look at him as she squeezed a couple of drops of washing up liquid into the sink. "You say that as if it's a bad thing."

"Well, of course it's not really bad. It's just, you are allowed to break the rules sometimes."

"Rules are made for a reason, you know." She replied as she turned back around, put the washing up gloves on and started to wash their plates.

"Yes, to be broken." Jerome teased. His memory was brought back to all of the things he and Sibuna had done back at Anubis House, that was definitely breaking quite a few rules. And Mara still didn't know. He guessed that was breaking another quite big rule, keeping such a big secret from her for so long. He frowned. Maybe... he should have told her... "Mara." He said, his voice quite serious.

Mara stopped humming to herself and looked around at him. "Yes?"

"There's something I never told you."

She took off her washing up gloves off and poured the dirty water away. "What?" she asked, standing opposite where he was sitting.

"Do you remember back at school? When me and the others sometimes disappeared?" he asked nervously.

Mara nodded. "Actually, now you mention it, I do." She frowned.

And he told her, he told her who Rufus was, how Nina was the Chosen One, how Eddie was the Osirion, what Sibuna was, what Vera had really been up to and about Victor and the teachers and the gem and the mystery and everything.

When he finished she stood there, and for once in his life Jerome couldn't read the expression on her face.

"I can't..." she paused, pressing her lips together, unsure how to say what she wanted to say. "I just can't belive you never told me any of that when it was happening." Jerome opened his mouth to say something but Mara shook her head. "I could have helped. _I could have_." She took a step away from him and the kitchen counter. "And you were _kidnapped_? How could you not tell me something like that? You were in danger and no one told me, no one even told Poppy! Your own sister! I may not have known it then but, for goodness sake, I loved you and no one told me that you could've have been hurt! Or even died!"

Jerome stood up, about to protest, about to explain how it was all to protect her and Poppy from being hurt. But she took another step back, her back now pressed against the sink.

"And what about Vera? I got made a fool of! Everyone in school thought I was lying! And it turned out I was right, and you never told me! Why did no one ever tell me_ anything_?!" At this last sentence she stamped her foot and almost shouted.

"Mara, please..." He didn't know how to make it better, for the first time in years he didn't know how to make it better. He'd thought it would be good, telling her the truth. But maybe it had been too late. He realised he should have told her years ago.

"I thought I could trust you!" And this time she did shout. "I really believed I could trust you! But you've been hiding this from me for years and years! At school, I always thought something was off but because you never told me I thought I must've been wrong, because I actually believed that if something that huge was happening then you would tell me about it! All these years, I believed that we told each other everything. And don't say that it should be alright because you've told me now, you should have told me years ago!" Mara stopped, panting from shouting so loudly. She leaned against the sink, fire in her usually calm eyes.

"Mara, I was only trying to protect you from getting hurt." He said softly.

"Well, it didn't work because now I'm hurt!" She said, shouting again and putting her hand to her chest, the fire in her eyes now exstinguished by the tears threatening to spill.

"Well at least you're not dead!" Jerome shouted back.

There was a sudden silence between them as they stared each other down. So silent it was loud.

Then Mara said, in a voice that sounded both calm and angry at the same time, "Did any of the others die? No? I didn't think so. So it's not very likely that I would have died either." She paused for a second then started shouting again, "So I don't think you've got a very good reason for keeping such a very massive secret from me!"

"You are such a hypocrite! You're talking about how you wouldn't have died when earlier you were shouting that I could have died!" Jerome threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

Mara, her heart breaking and her hands shaking, pointed in the direction of the kitchen doorway. "Get out." She said, her voice quiet and cracking.

Jerome didn't move.

"I said get out!" She shouted again, moving forwards and almost falling as she gripped onto the edge of the kitchen counter infront of Jerome. "Get out and leave me alone!"

Jerome slowly walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. He took his coat off of the coat hanger in the hallway, opened the door and walked out.

When Mara heard the door slam she sank down to the floor, her head in her hands, and cried.

_Line Break._

Later that night, she sat on the edge of the bathtub in their bathroom, shaking as she held the positive pregnancy test in her hands.

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_A/N: So... This idea kind of just popped into my head. And I know I'm already writing a few other stories but it kind of just had to be written and uploaded the moment I thought of it. I hope you like it... More chapters soon... Oh, and if you didn't realise, the titles of the story and the chapters are named after Taylor Swift lyrics... Xx_


	2. Leads You Back to My Door

_Chapter 2: Leads You Back to My Door_

Mara woke up in bed the next morning, alone. She lay on her side, looking at the side of the bed where Jerome usually slept and she slowly stroked the pillow where his head should have been. She turned so she lay on her back, staring at the ceiling. She couldn't believe it, she was 24, alone, not married, possibly not even in a relationship anymore... and pregnant.

She should be happy, she should be so completely and utterly happy.

It wasn't that she didn't want a baby. Even though she wasn't married yet, she didn't mind having the baby and then getting married, because that was how she would prefer to do it, because then she'd be able to fit into a nice dress and the baby could be a part of the wedding, with a lovely small outfit and... But Mara had to stop fantasizing. Because there might not even be a wedding, she might even end up being a single mother, but then Jerome would want to see his baby and it would get really complicated and she didn't want that. She wanted to be with Jerome. She loved Jerome. She did. She didn't care anymore that Jerome hadn't told her before, he'd told her now and he had only been trying to protect her. She knew she could trust him. Mara knew she'd been angry before but now she'd calmed down she could see things from his perspective.

A tear rolled down Mara's cheek as she wandered whether Jerome would come back to her.

Her hand rested on her stomach. She couldn't believe there was a little life in there.

She took the phone from the bedside table and dialed Alfie and Amber's home number. She fiddled with the cord as it rang, still staring at the ceiling. She hoped against hope that Alfie knew where Jerome was.

Mara thought of Amber and Alfie and their life. They lived in a big house just outside the city which Jerome and Mara lived in, in a picturesque countryside village, and they had one-year-old twins, Ella and George.

"Hello, Amber speaking."

"Amber, it's Mara." Mara said, her voice cracking slightly which she hoped Amber wouldn't notice.

"Mara! Why is Jerome at my house?" Amber said, and Mara could hear the curiousity in her voice as well as the concern.

Mara thought for a moment, deciding whether to tell her anything or not. She decided she needed to talk to Jerome first before she told anyone anything.

Amber was still talking though. "He showed up here last night, didn't say why, just asked if he could stay the night. We said yes, I mean he's Alfie's best friend. I think he's still asleep in the spare room."

"Well," Mara started, "when he wakes up, could... could you tell him to come home?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

"And Mara?"

"Yes?"

"Tell me if you need anything. Ever."

"I will, thank you Amber."

"See you soon, Mara."

"See you."

Then they hung up and Mara put the phone back on the bedside table. As she stared at the ceiling again she wandered what to do. She supposed she should go see the doctor. But she needed to wait for Jerome to get home first. She hoped he would come home. She hoped she hadn't made him leave permanently.

By the time she'd had a shower, got dressed, had her breakfast and brushed her teeth, Jerome still hadn't come back.

She sat on the sofa in the living room, waiting.

Half an hour later, Mara heard someone open the door and walk in, so she got up and walked to the end of the hallway and saw Jerome hanging up his coat on the coat hanger and closing the front door behind him at the other end of the hallway. He turned and looked at her, hands in his pockets.

"Amber said it sounded like something had happened." He said.

"Oh. Did she?" Mara said quietly.

He nodded. "But I suppose that something would be our fight."

She pressed her lips together, choosing to talk about the fight before she mentioned the other something that had happened. "I think...We should forget the fight."

"You don't mind that I didn't tell you until yesterday?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Atleast you told me eventually."

"But I am sorry I didn't tell you before." Jerome said, taking his hands out of his pockets.

"That's okay." Mara said. He took a step towards her but she said "Wait."

They looked at each other for a moment.

"There's something else." Mara said.

"Oh?"

Mara nodded and then took a deep breath. But she stopped. She couldn't say it. She didn't know why, they'd made up, everything was okay. But she still found it hard. She frowned and subconciously placed her hand on her stomach as she thought. Jerome noticed.

He walked up to Mara and stood infront of her. "I think I can guess." he said. He took her hands and lent down so their noses were touching. "Are we going to have a baby?"

"Yes." Mara whispered.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

And they kissed softly.

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_A/N: Two chapters in one day for this story... Wow, I just can't stop writing it. I hope you like it! Xx_


	3. Don't Know How it Gets Better Than This

_Chapter 3: I Don't Know How it Gets Better Than This_

Mara walked to their apartment door, listening to the music coming through her purple headphones. She'd just been to the doctor for a checkup to make sure every thing was okay and he had said everything was fine. "There doesn't seem to be any reason why you can't have a perfectly healthy and happy baby, Miss Jaffray." he'd said. So Mara walked happily into the apartment, closing the door behind her, and turned off her music and lowered her headphones so they sat around her neck.

Jerome was sat on the sofa in the living room, watching the TV. He looked up when she walked in and smiled at her. "Hello, love."

Mara smiled back at him, "Hello." She lent down and kissed him on the lips. As she pulled away she asked "Do you want a cup of tea?"

"Yes, but don't worry, I'll do it." He said, standing up, turning off the TV, and walking into the kitchen. Mara followed him and sat on one of the tall stools at the kitchen counter. "How did the doctor's go?" He asked, turning on the kettle and getting the mugs and teabags.

"Great, he says everything's fine." Mara smiled happily.

Jerome turned and smiled at her. "Brilliant."

Once he'd made the tea he set it down on the counter and sat opposite Mara at the counter.

"So, how was the meeting?" Mara asked. Jerome had been to a meeting with some people from a magazine who wanted him to take photos for them. "What was the magazine again?"

"National Geographic. And the meeting went well. They want me to take some photos for an article about Scotland." He paused, unsure of how Mara would react to what he was going to say next. "So I'll have to go away for a week. It's Saturday today isn't it? I'll be going away a week on Monday."

Mara pressed her lips together, thinking. She sipped her tea and then said "Okay. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine by myself for a week. I mean, I still have to go to work. Don't think they'd let me off for maternity leave quite yet." She joked, but her eyes still looked a little sad.

"Maybe you should stay with someone while I'm gone?" Jerome suggested, sipping his tea and looking at her over the rim of his mug.

"No, don't worry, I'll be fine." She smiled and took the hand of his that was resting on the counter in one of her hands.

"I feel so domestic." Jerome said.

"Oh." Mara frowned, was this a bad thing? Was he bored of her?

"Not in a bad way." Jerome squeezed her hand to reassure her. "I like it. I like settling into an apartment and planning for things and having a baby. Mostly because I'm doing it with you. I don't think I'd like it nearly as much if I wasn't doing all this with you."

"Oh Jerome." Mara rolled her eyes at him. "I never thought you could be so cheesy."

"I can't help it if things that are true sound cheesy." He stuck his tongue out at her.

Mara giggled. Then they both lent in and their lips met. Kissing Jerome, Mara felt like she could never be more happy. She supposed she didn't feel too sad that Jerome would be going a way for a week, he'd be coming back after all.

Mara slowly pulled away and they rested their foreheads against each other's.

"You know what we haven't done?" Mara said.

"What?" Jerome asked, curious.

"Told my parents, or your's, that I'm pregnant."


	4. If You Were Here

_Chapter 4: If You Were Here_

It was now a week on Monday and Mara was sat at her desk in the open plan office of the magazine that she worked at. As she typed up the latest article she had been working on, she thought of all that had happened since Jerome and her had sat in their kitchen drinking tea.

Their parents had taken the news well, Jerome had gone over to tell his dad and Poppy (who was 19 and a student at the university nearby) in person while Mara had told her parents (who were now coaches and training their athletes abroad) over the phone.

Her mum had picked up the phone. "Mrs Jaffray speaking."

"Hi mum." Mara smiled even though her mum couldn't see her. It had been a while since she'd seen her parents and it was nice to hear her mum's voice.

"Oh, hello! How are you?"

"I'm great, actually. I phoned to tell you some news, mum."

"Oh, really? What is it?"

"Well... it's, um..." She hadn't really thought of how to say it. She supposed she just better come out with it. "I'm pregnant."

There was a pause, and then Mrs Jaffray said "That's wonderful! Oh, how lovely. Frankie?" Mara heard her mum call to her dad.

In the background she heard her dad call back. "Yes?"

"Mara's on the phone, guess what she just told me?"

"I'm not going to guess. Just tell me." Mara laughed, she loved that her dad hated guessing.

"She's pregnant, we're going to be grandparents! Oh my gosh, I'm going to be a grandma. I feel so old."

Mara laughed again. "You're not old mum, you're only 49."

"I suppose that's not too old. Well congratulations, Mara. I'm sure you'll be a wonderful mother. What's that?" She paused. "Your father says that's great."

"I'm glad you're both okay with it." Mara couldn't stop smiling, she'd been a bit nervous about how they would react but they seemed perfectly fine with it.

"You're father says he's fine with it as long as Jerome marries you eventually." Mrs Jaffray said.

Mara laughed and then froze. _As long as Jerome marries you eventually. _It repeated in her head. She hadn't thought of that. When would he ask her to marry him? She had no idea. She would have to wait and see.

"Well, I better go Mara. We've got to go and train soon." Mara was brought out of her thoughts by her mum.

"Oh, okay. Well, I hope I'll see you soon."

"I'm sure you will. By love!"

"By mum." Mara put the phone down.

When Jerome had got home, he had told her that his dad and Poppy had both said congratulations and seemed perfectly happy with it.

Mara sighed and took a pause from writing her article to sip her tea. Everything was good, but Jerome had left that morning and it had dampened her spirits slightly.

He'd had to leave for the train before she'd even got up. Dressed smartly, as usual, in a white shirt, black trousers and black dress shoes and carrying a black blazer over his shoulder, Jerome had crept into their bedroom and softly shook Mara awake. Mara remembered waking up to see Jerome leaning over her, his blue eyes shining through the darkness.

"Hello." She said sleepily, smiling.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to say goodbye." Jerome replied, brushing her hair out of her face, causing Mara's cheek to tingle at his touch.

She pouted and ran her hand through his hair. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." He said and lent down to kiss her. Mara reached up and placed her hands on the back of his neck. When he pulled away, reluctantly, he said "I'll see you on Monday, okay?"

Mara nodded. "Okay. I love you."

"I love you too." He said before kissing her one more time and then leaving.

Mara forced herself to carry on writing the article and to not dwell on something she couldn't change. After all, Jerome would be coming home in a week and then everything would be okay. It was just that they hadn't spent much time apart since the holidays back at school. Even when Mara had gone to university to study journalism and Jerome had gone to art college to study photography, both places had been in the same city and they'd managed to meet up at least twice a week (often more than that) and they ended up moving in together before they'd even left university.

Mara shook her head, she realised it was going to be really hard to not dwell on Jerome being gone.


	5. I'm Alone, On My Own

_Chapter 5: I'm Alone, On My Own_

Over the next few days Mara began to despair. She knew the week was going to be bad because Jerome was away, but she had no idea that it was going to be even worse because everything else just kept going wrong too.

On Tuesday after work, Mara decided to treat herself, so she went into Starbucks and bought the biggest hot chocolate possible with cream and everything. She smiled as it was given to her and turned to find a table to sit down at when someone walked into her and the hot chocolate spilt down her shirt as the cup fell out of her hands.

There was an immediate eruption of action. The girl who had accidentally walked into her started apologising over and over, saying she would buy her another one but she had no more money on her, everyone around them moved away slightly to avoid getting hot chocolate on them and a waitress sped over to clean up the mess.

Wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible, Mara assured the girl that it really was no problem, thanked the waitress and practically ran out of the café. As soon as she got into the ampartment she had a shower and even though afterwards she felt cleaner, she still felt annoyed about the lack of her hot chocolate.

Wednesday wasn't much better. She was working at her computer, doing research for her next article, when the computer crashed and all her current work was lost. There was nothing she could do, she went to the workers in IT but they said it was all gone. So she had to start all over. It was the most frustrating day ever.

And then Thursday came along. Mara supposed she should have seen it coming, after all it was January, the middle of Winter, and it had yet to snow that Winter. But it had completely slipped her mind that it could snow. And it did. Badly. Mara took a short ten minute bus too and from her work and her apartment and the way to work in the morning was fine. But by afternoon, the snow falling had made it practically impossible to see where you were going and her ten minute bus ended up taking an hour. She would have gotten out and walked if she'd been able to see where she was walking.

Eventually Mara got back to her apartment and in the short walk from the bus stop to inside she had gotten covered in snow. She was freezing and trembling. As she knelt before the fireplace and watched the fire light, she realised how badly her heart ached for Jerome and she wondered if her week without him could get any worse.


	6. The Water's Rough but This Love is Ours

_A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been busy with a project and lots of schoolwork! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Also, I now have a twitter, the link is on my profile. Xx_

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_Chapter 6: The Water's Rough but This Love is Ours_

Mara's week without Jerome got worse. She thought it was getting better, nothing bad happened on Friday and on Saturday evening she even got a call from Jerome. She was sitting on the sofa, eating a pot of Ben and Jerry's ice cream for dessert and watching the TV, when the phone on the end table next to the sofa rang.

She picked it up, realizing too late that her mouth was still full of ice cream and her voice sounded a bit muffled because of it. She tried to say "Hello" but it came out as "Huyo?"

"Eating ice cream for dessert again, are we?" Came Jerome's voice.

Mara quickly swallowed the ice cream and said softly "Jerome."

"Hello." He said, just as softly.

"I miss you." Mara said, poking her ice cream with her spoon sadly.

"I miss you too, but only two days left now. I'll be back Monday evening." Jerome said and Mara could hear that he sounded a bit sad too.

Deciding to change the subject, she said "What's Scotland like?"

"Cold, there is _a lot _of snow. But we're still managing to get some good pictures."

"Good, but don't get too cold. I don't want you to get ill or anything. You'll be careful won't you?" Mara said, slightly worried, she didn't want him trekking up mountains in the snow.

"I will. Don't worry, Mara. How's England?" Jerome replied, obviously not wanting her to get too caught up in worrying about him.

"Well, it's pretty cold here too. It snowed on Thursday and it hasn't snowed again but the snow's not melting. But everyone's got used to a bit so it's not as disruptive." Mara said, going back to eating some ice cream afterwards.

They went on to talk about work, Mara's bad week (which Jerome managed to cheer her up from) and a bit more about the weather before Jerome said, quite sadly, "Well, I better go. I have to get up early again tomorrow morning."

"Oh, alright. It was nice to talk to you." Mara said, sadly again.

"It was nice to talk to you too. I'm sorry I didn't call before, there was a problem with the phones at the hotel and I rarely have signal where I am." He explained.

"That's fine. I suppose I'll see you Monday evening." Mara said, biting her lip. She could feel tears threatening to spill because she didn't want to say goodbye but she was determined not to cry because she'd see Jerome again soon.

"I'll see you then. Goodbye, I love you, Mara."

"Goodbye. I love you too, Jerome."

But after Saturday everything started to go downhill again. Sunday there was a power cut, so Mara had to spend the whole day blundering around in the dark (the natural light from the windows didn't really help, there wasn't any, there was a storm for most of the day. It's safe to say the rain lashing against the windows and the lightning and thunder didn't really help Mara's mood).

Mara woke up on Monday, glad that the long week was _finally_ nearly over. She just had to get through one more day at work then she could see Jerome again. When she got to her desk, she sat down and made to turn the computer on but someone interrupted her.

"Could I speak to you in my office please, Mara?" Mara turned around to see, the magazine's editor and her boss, Sarah Woods.

"Of course, Sarah." Mara got up and followed Sarah to her office. Once they were there, Sarah closed the door behind them and motioned for Mara to sit down, doing so herself.

Mara sat down, nervous. She had no idea what this could possibly be about. "Is everything alright?" She asked.

Sarah sighed, clasping her hands together. "I'm afraid not. I won't beat around the bush; I'm having to let you go."

Mara's jaw dropped. "I'm being fired?!" Her voice came out high pitched.

Sarah nodded sadly. "I didn't want to fire you, but I don't have much choice. You may not have even noticed Mara, but lately you've been missing deadlines and the quality of your work has actually been quite poor." She put up her hand as Mara opened her mouth to say something. "Don't. I know what you're going to say, that you've been going through a lot and that you're going to try harder. But Mara, you'll be going on maternity leave in a month or two anyway so would you really have had much of a chance to improve? You can use the time that you would have been on maternity leave to find a job that you can start once you've had your baby and it's just as easy for me to find your replacement as it would be for me to find someone to fill in for you while you're away. I will miss you Mara, you have been a good contribution to our team, but I'm afraid the time has come for us to part. Of course, I will still give you a good reference and I don't want to part on bad terms." Sarah lent back and waited for Mara to speak.

"I understand." was all Mara could manage. "I-I'll go then."

Sarah nodded, sadly again. "Goodbye, Miss Jaffray."

Mara left the room and went to her desk to get her things. The whole time she was packing her things and walking home (she didn't feel like taking the bus) she was almost in a trance, she just felt numb. She hadn't expected it at all, it had come from nowhere. She had been far too wrapped up in her own life to notice what was going on at work.

Once she got to the apartment, Mara dumped her things from her work desk in the study and went into the kitchen. She took the jar of chocolate spread from the fridge, a teaspoon from the cutlery draw and went to the sofa in the living to sit down and watch TV.

Quite a few hours later, Mara looked guiltily into the chocolate spread jar and saw that she'd eaten almost all of it. Shaking her head she set it aside onto the end table next to the sofa and looked at her watch. She jumped when she saw that it was five o'clock and rushed to get her coat and shoes on. She shoved her purse in her coat pocket, grabbed the apartment keys from a table in the hallway and ran out of the door, quickly locking it on her way out.

Jerome's train was due to get into the station at half past five and she wanted to make sure she got there first so she was there to great Jerome. She ran for the bus and when it got to the station she ran out of the bus and inside. She stood in the middle of all the commotion of rush hour and checked her watch: twenty past five. Relieved and out of breath, Mara went over to the screen which showed arrivals and departures and saw that Jerome's train was going to arrive at platform 2. She went and stood in front of the ticket barriers closest to platform two.

She waited rather impatiently, bouncing up and down on her toes and when she saw the train pulling into the station, her heart jumped a mile. Once the train stopped, the doors opened and dozens of people began to walk down the platform. As it was rush hour, there were so many people that Mara didn't see Jerome until he came through the ticket barrier. She suddenly saw his ruffled hair and sharp blue eyes and then he was right in front of her.

Mara threw her arms around his neck, nestling her face in the crook of his neck. Jerome wrapped one arm around her waist and the other on the back of her head, pulling her closer.

"God, I missed you." Jerome said into Mara's hair.

"I missed you too." She whispered into his neck, sneaking in a quick kiss there.

He pulled away and smiled down at her. "Don't tease me." He placed his hands either side of her face.

"Kiss me then." She said, and he did.


	7. He Pulled Out A Ring And Said

_A/N: Hello! I have returned and I have missed you all very much. Wow, I haven't posted in absolutely ages. It's because I took a little hiatus from FanFiction to concentrate on college work and things. But now that I have broken up from college for the summer I have plenty of time for writing! I made sure to put extra effort into this chapter to make sure it was long and good enough for you all since it's my first update in a while. I hope you all love this chapter and that it makes you happy, it made me really happy when writing it!_

_Love,_

_FearlessAndRed Xx_

_P.S. I added a little "Previously" so you don't have to trawl back through the other chapters to remember what happened, since it's been a while since I last posted. _

* * *

_Previously..._

* * *

_He told her, he told her who Rufus was, how Nina was the Chosen One, how Eddie was the Osirion, what Sibuna was, what Vera had really been up to and about Victor and the teachers and the gem and the mystery and everything._

* * *

_He took her hands and lent down so their noses were touching. "Are we going to have a baby?"_  
_"Yes." Mara whispered._

* * *

_"They want me to take some photos for an article about Scotland." He paused, unsure of how Mara would react to what he was going to say next. "So I'll have to go away for a week."_

* * *

_Mara shook her head, she realised it was going to be really hard to not dwell on Jerome being gone._

* * *

_Over the next few days Mara began to despair. She knew the week was going to be bad because Jerome was away, but she had no idea that it was going to be even worse because everything else just kept going wrong too._

* * *

_Mara's jaw dropped. "I'm being fired?!" _

* * *

_As it was rush hour, there were so many people that Mara didn't see Jerome until he came through the ticket barrier. She suddenly saw his ruffled hair and sharp blue eyes and then he was right in front of her. _  
_Mara threw her arms around his neck, nestling her face in the crook of his neck. Jerome wrapped one arm around her waist and the other on the back of her head, pulling her closer. _  
_"God, I missed you." Jerome said into Mara's hair._  
_"I missed you too." She whispered into his neck, sneaking in a quick kiss there._  
_He pulled away and smiled down at her. "Don't tease me." He placed his hands either side of her face._  
_"Kiss me then." She said, and he did._

* * *

_Chapter 7: He Pulled Out A Ring And Said..._

Mara looked in the bathroom mirror after having brushed her teeth. She stood sideways-on to the mirror and looked at her stomach where a small bump was now showing. She smiled. Jerome looked through the doorway at her and smiled too. He stood there for a moment before walking into the bathroom.

"Morning, love." He said, kissing Mara on the cheek.

"Morning." She replied, contentedly, leaning into him.

"I have a surprise for you." Jerome announced, excited. Mara looked up at him, a curious frown on her face.

"What is it?" She asked suspiciously. Ideas started running through her head...

A gift from Scotland? A random "just because I love you" gift? (Jerome often gave her that kind of gift, Mara kept telling him not to, she didn't want him spending money on her, but he insisted. She had taken to repaying him by baking him things.)

Then her heart skipped a beat.

... A Proposal?

No, she couldn't think like that. She couldn't get her hopes up like that. She loved Jerome and knew that he loved her too and they were both so happy to be having a baby together but that didn't mean he had to propose to her. Well, not right then and there anyway. Hopefully he would eventually...

"A surprise. So I can't tell you." Jerome said in reply to Mara's question, grinning wickedly. "Otherwise it wouldn't be a surprise, would it? Now, go get dressed, we're going for brunch at a posh place."

Mara turned to raise an eyebrow at Jerome as he started to gently push her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. "A posh place? _Jerome_. This isn't going to be something that costs a lot of money is it? Because you know I haven't found another job yet. Speaking of which, I was going to go job hunting this morning, so I _can't _go to brunch." She stopped abruptly in the bedroom doorway, not letting Jerome push her any further. She crossed her arms.

Jerome simply smiled. "I love it when your stubborn." He leant forward and quickly kissed Mara on the nose, causing her to frown while going cross-eyed trying to look at her nose. She then looked back up at him continuing to frown. She started to say something but Jerome put a finger to her lips before she could. "And don't worry about the cost, this is being paid for. And forget about job hunting."

"What-"

"Seriously, don't worry Mara. I've got it all sorted." Jerome smiled at her again before walking away down the hallway and into the living room. "Now get dressed!" He called.

It was half an hour later and Mara and Jerome were walking down the street towards the restaurant Jerome said they were going to for brunch, holding hands. Mara was dressed in a simple, smart red dress and black pumps while Jerome was dressed in a white shirt, black trousers and black dress shoes.

"Jerome, will you please tell me-" Mara started for the tenth time since they'd left their apartment.

"No, Jaffray." Jerome cut her off, smiling down at her. Mara looked into his eyes and saw they sparkled with laughter.

"This better not be some big joke." Mara said, looking straight forward and continuing to walk along the pavement.

"Of course it isn't." Jerome said, genuinely. They walked along for a few more steps in silence before reaching the door to a restaurant called _Jasmine_.

Mara gasped. "I love this place! I've only been here once though, because it's so expensive. My parents brought me here for my eighteenth birthday. It's brilliant, I love it."

Jerome simply said "I know."

Mara quickly looked up at him in surprise. "You kno-"

"Shhh." He cut her off, opening the door open for her and following her in, while she just stared at him, perplexed. Once in the restaurant, Jerome talked to the waiter standing by the door but Mara couldn't hear what he said.

The waiter nodded to Jerome and then said to both of them "Mr Clarke, Miss Jaffray, please follow me to your table for three."

Mara was about to ask _Table for three?! _but Jerome just gave her a look that said _Just go with it _so she decided to let it all go and just let whatever happened, happen.

The waiter led them to a table near the window and Mara noticed that there was already a woman sitting at it. She had auburn hair up in a neat bun, was wearing a suit and looked to be somewhere in her thirties. She stood up when they reached the table and nodded to the waiter, saying "Thank you." The waiter then left and the woman gestured for Jerome and Mara to sit down, sitting down when they did. They sat so Mara and the mysterious woman were opposite each other and Jerome was on Mara's left, between the two of them.

Jerome sat their, smiling and reading through a menu. The woman noticed the confused expression on Mara's face and said "Let me introduce myself, my name is Louise Kelsey. I am the editor of _Speak Now _magazine."

A smile immediately appeared on Mara's face. "I love that magazine! I used to read it all the time at high school, it was my favourite."

Louise smiled back. "I am glad to hear it, because I would like to offer you a job at my magazine, for once you have had your child."

Mara blinked in surprise, not knowing what to say.

Louise continued. "Jerome gave me your CV, you reference from your last job, and a portfolio of a few articles you have written and I decided that we would be extremely lucky to have you on our team as a feature-writer."

Mara looked at Jerome, who continued to look through the drinks list. He had...he had done that for her? She looked back over at Louise, who was still smiling at her. Did she never stop smiling? "Um... I... Um..." Mara laughed nervously. "Sorry..."

"It's fine. I understand if you need time to consider." Louise paused, and her smile faded slightly as she became less lighthearted. "You should know that you accepting this job offer would mean you would have to move to London, where our main office is, so I understand deciding whether to take this job will take a lot of discussion and thought. After all, you'd have to move to the other side of the country."

"Oh, yes... I didn't think of that." Mara looked over at Jerome again and this time he looked back at her and took her hand and squeezed it.

Later on, Jerome and Mara sat at the counter in their kitchen, eating the Chinese take-away Jerome had ordered for them.

"So, explain." Mara said, tucking into some noodles.

"Explain what?" Jerome asked, looking up suddenly. Mara giggled because he had noodles hanging out of his mouth. He scooped the noodles up into his mouth and quickly ate them, then repeated himself. "Explain what?"

"About Louise Kelsey? About how you got me this amazing job offer?" Mara said, picking up a prawn cracker.

"Ah." Jerome nodded. "Well, I met Louise at a press event in Scotland and then you told me about getting fired so I called her and explained. She said if I emailed her your CV, reference and porfolio then she would consider giving you a position once you'd had the baby. So, I sent them to her, and she was really impressed and said she wanted to meet you as soon as possible. Which, of course, I expected because you're amazing and who wouldn't want to meet you?"

Mara blushed. "Oh, _Jerome_."

"So, I phoned your parents to find out where the most amazing place to take you brunch would be and they told me about how much you loved_ Jasmine _so I booked for us to have brunch there with Louise."

"That's so thoughtful, Jerome."

"But... You don't have to take the job, of course. I know it's a big decision we'd have to make, moving across the country to go and live in London, but... I think..." He paused, putting his knife and fork down to take Mara's hand in his. "You see, we were probably going to move into a new house once we'd had the baby anyway, because we're going to need more space, so, I was thinking maybe the new house we move into could be a nice one in a nice area on the outskirts of London where we could settle down and you could commute to your job easily. And being in London would probably make my job easier too. I know it would be hard to move away from everyone we know, but we could always come and visit and they can come and visit us. And... I think... Once we'd settle down in London and you'd settled into your job and our baby was all settled in too... I think... It would be nice to get married." Jerome finished. He swallowed, nervous. He looked into Mara's eyes.

She looked back into his. "Did you..." Mara started once she'd managed to catch her breath. "Are you... proposing to me?" Her voice shook.

A wide grin appeared on Jerome's face. "I suppose I am. So, what do you say, will you marry me?"

Mara started to laugh and cry at the same time. She'd never felt so completely and simply happy. "Yes!" She managed to say.

Jerome immediately let go of her hands to cup her face with his hands and kiss her. "Mara stop crying." He said when they pulled apart slightly, faces still only centimeters apart.

"But I'm so happy. I can't help it." She laughed, kissing him again.

"Oh, fudge." He mumbled into the kiss. They pulled apart slightly again.

"What?" Mara asked. "What's wrong?"

"I forgot to get down on one knee and give you the ring." Mara laughed. "Can I do it again?" He asked.

"If you must." Mara said, still laughing. She used a clean napkin to dry her tears.

Jerome got up from his stool opposite Mara and moved round to her side of the kitchen counter. Mara turned sideways-on to the counter so she was facing him. He knelt down on one knee infront of her and pulled a small red box out from his jacket pocket.

"They only had blue boxes at the shop I bought the ring from so I had to go and hunt down a red one because I know it's your favourite colour." Jerome explained and Mara smiled. "Right, so... I know you've already said yes but just go along with it, okay?" Mara nodded. He cleared his throat. "Mara Jaffray..." He opened the small box to reveal a small golden ring with a single diamond. "Will you marry me?"

"Oh my gosh, yes!" Mara said, acting surprised.

Jerome laughed and took Mara's left hand in his. He gently slipped the ring onto her ring finger. They both looked at it for a moment before Jerome said "I know it's only small but I didn't want to get something extravagant because I know you prefer understated to overstated."

"You know me so well, it's perfect." Mara said, leaning down. She softly placed her lips on his. Butterflies took flight in her stomach, just like the first time they'd kissed, back at school.

_Mara Clarke_. Mara decided she liked the sound of that. She liked that a lot.


End file.
